Spam trap
What is Spam trap?
A spam trap is an email address that mailbox providers and blocklist operators plant or repurpose purely to catch senders with poor list hygiene, since no real person ever opts in to receive mail there. The three common types are pristine traps (created fresh and never used by a real person), typo traps (a common misspelling of a real domain), and recycled traps (a formerly real inbox reactivated after long-term inactivity). Hitting even a handful can tank sender reputation or trigger an immediate blocklisting.
More detail
Pristine traps never belonged to a real person, so the only way to email one is by buying, scraping, or otherwise acquiring an address list without genuine opt-in consent — a single hit is treated as strong evidence of bad acquisition practices rather than a one-off mistake.
Recycled traps are the harder failure mode to avoid: a mailbox provider reclaims an address after it sits inactive for an extended period (commonly six months to a year), then reactivates it as a trap — so a sender with weak list hygiene that never prunes long-unengaged addresses will eventually mail one even with fully consented signups.
Because trap hits are weighted heavily by mailbox providers and third-party blocklists, senders reduce exposure with confirmed (double) opt-in at signup, regular suppression of long-unengaged addresses, and list-validation checks before a send — the same hygiene practices that keep bounce rate and sender reputation healthy.
Frequently asked
- What's the difference between a pristine, typo, and recycled spam trap?
- A pristine trap was created solely as bait and never belonged to a real person, so any mail to it implies non-consensual list acquisition. A typo trap sits at a common misspelling of a real domain (registered by the domain owner or a blocklist operator) and catches sloppy data entry. A recycled trap was once a real, active inbox that a mailbox provider reclaimed after long-term inactivity and reactivated as a trap.
- How many spam trap hits does it take to hurt deliverability?
- It varies by trap type and volume, but even a small number of pristine trap hits can trigger an immediate blocklisting because they're such a strong signal of non-consensual list acquisition, while occasional recycled-trap hits weigh more gradually into the ongoing sender reputation score alongside bounce rate and complaint rate.
See also
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